Beef Heart, The Most Beefy Cut of All


 

RCBaughn

TVWBB Super Fan
If anyone has an aversion to eating a beef heart BTW, throw that notion out the window. If you find one in your local grocery, buy it and buy it fast because if you love beef then you're gonna love this cut. It's like a cow ate a entire other cow then kicked you square in the mouth. It's that beefy tasting with not a hint of gamey or minerally taste that comes from eating offal.

Here's a picture of the heart after I had it all prepped. it only took about 10 minutes to remove all the outside fat from the muscle and get the inside membrane all trimmed away. The yield is very good on the cut too, very little waste if your good with a knife. I would also recommend cutting it into 1x1" cubes so the marinade can get to more of the meat fibers.

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Here's the marinade I concocted and left it overnight to sit and marry with the flavors -

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar or other vinegar you like. Balsamic may work well, or even straight red wine, but stick with dark wines and vinegars. Beef prefers it.
2 cloves garlic roughly smashed
1 shallot very finely minced
Pinch of thyme, or really any other dried or fresh herb you prefer with your beef. No rosemary though, it's too woody and overbearing I find with beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black Pepper to taste, I go heavy with it


When you go to cook it, preheat your grille to ripping, and I mean ripping hot. Thread the meat onto skewers and grille over direct heat for 2/3 minutes per side, or until the middle has reached a nice shade of medium rare. You really DO NOT want to overcook this meat. It turns very tough if you do, although the flavor will still be there.

I served mine on a sandwich on Portuguese bread I had made earlier in the day. Grille the bread to keep it from getting soggy too. Sprinkle on some grated pepperjack after the hot meat went on to let it melt. You could also put one half of the sandwich under the broiler or back on the grille indirectly to get the cheese melty and rewarm the bread.

Really though, I would say leave off the sandwich idea and eat it like you would a good piece of steak. Maybe a side of mashed potatoes and garlic bread and chow down. Seriously, this meat is extremely beefy. If you get past the notion that a heart isn't meat and try it, you're gonna love it. I am glad I ventured out and found it.
 
RC I couldnt agree with you more. While I havent had beef heart I am a hunter and my most prized part of a deer is the heart. Your marinade is similar to the one that I use and the results are always outstanding. Just need to be sure you cook it medium rare.
 
Jim, I have antelope heart along with some deer kidneys and liver on order right now from Broken Arrow Ranch out in Texas. Saw them on Bizarre Foods America and went to their site and saw how awesome their prices were on stuff like this. I am excited to get it, but I'ma be saving it for special occasions for sure since hunting season is out now. I have never got to try fresh deer heart because my family always chunks everything but the hams and tenderloins. It sucks that I am just now learning that most of the rest of the deer is where all the good stuff is, but no more. If I kill one or see someone else skinning a healthy looking deer out, I'm coming home with the offal for sure. And you couldn't be more right on the medium rare. A few pieces that were cut smaller were cooked past that and had to be given to my Weimaraner, although he didn't complain one bit and I guess it worked out good for both of us.

Heart definitely has that minerally taste that is awesome, almost bison-ish but you know it's still beef but not your average meat. I really want to try grinding a heart up and mixing in the beef fat trim I got from Whole Foods. Be real easy to measure out fat to lean ratio since the heart has absolutely zero almost. Bet that would be one mean *** burger. But yeah, that marinade can turn any cut of beef or lamb into something pretty awesome can't it? I love red wine vinegar and olive oil.


And J Hoke, I have had beef tongue and it's really good too. I braised mine in a dutch oven for about three hours in some basic beef stock and mirepoix and then crisped it up on the grill. The onlu thing that I have against it really is the texture is a bit too soft and spongey. Not bad at all, but not as firm as I like most of my cuts. Definitely a great change up from the normal pot roast style beef. And peeling the thing after you braise it is almost as fun as getting to eat the dern thing. :D

I got some tripe in my freezer right now that I am trying to decide what to do with. Wish you could smoke it to tender instead of braising but don't think that would work. Gotta figure out a real good way to prep it so I can say that I honestly like it. The way that offal is prepped and handled decides whether you love it or hate it, and I don't want to ruin the chance to get to enjoy it in the future by messing it up.
 
Dang that sounds good. Are there any glands that need to come out of the neck, or do you just cut it in front of the shoulders and right behind the skull and braise it? Didn't know how you would need to deal with the trachea and all that. Never worked trying to keep a deer neck but I have heard of people cooking it.
 
It's like a cow ate a entire other cow then kicked you square in the mouth. It's that beefy tasting...

THIS had me spitting water out of my nose!

I need to keep an eye out for a heart.
 

 

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